


Cooking with Casualties

by Fallen_Angel_Meg



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Parenthood, allusions to sexy times, domestic!Destiel, kitchen mishaps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-29
Updated: 2016-04-29
Packaged: 2018-06-05 04:04:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6688426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fallen_Angel_Meg/pseuds/Fallen_Angel_Meg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's just an average Saturday for Castiel. That is, until he decides to surprise Dean with the help of their daughter and things don't go as planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cooking with Casualties

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the SPN Writing Challenge [April 2016]  
> Theme: Phrase Prompts  
> Prompt: "It's not nearly as bad as it looks, sweetheart."

Soft lips press against the corner of Castiel’s mouth and he hums, not entirely sure if it’s real or just a dream. “Good morning, Cas.” A scratchy morning voice murmurs against his skin before pressing another kiss in place. That answers Castiel’s question and he groans tiredly.  
  
“Dean, it’s too early in the morning.”  
  
Dean chuckles, snaking his arm around Cas’ waist and pulling himself closer. “It’s never too early for this.”  
  
Castiel opens his eyes, squinting against the morning sun that’s streaming through their open window. He can already tell it’s going to be a beautiful summer day. Too bad he can’t appreciate it yet since it’s too damn early to be awake.  
  
“What time is it?” Cas mumbles, rubbing his eyes.  
  
“8:30,” Dean answers him with another kiss, this time on his jaw.  
  
Castiel groans again. It’s Saturday- a day for sleeping in. And he especially needs it after the incredible night he and Dean had…  
  
“Can’t we just sleep in another hour?”  
  
He feels Dean smile against his neck. “Did I tire you out last night?”  
  
Castiel snorts, turning to face him. “Not at all.”  
  
Dean raises his eyebrows and his smug smile tells Cas he doesn’t believe him one bit so he relents. “Okay fine, you did. And it was amazing.”  
  
“Good. We don’t get many opportunities to be that loud anymore- I couldn’t hold back.”  
  
Castiel rolls his eyes but nuzzles himself into Dean’s shoulder, a small smile on his lips. It’s been difficult to find time to dedicate to just the two of them since one of them is either working or taking care of their four year old daughter, Ava. And they certainly don’t want to answer her questions of “Daddy, why was Papa yelling last night? Did he get hurt?” or “Papa, Daddy said a lot of bad words. Does he have to eat soap now?”  
  
“Yeah. We should let Ava spend the night at your parent’s house more often.”  
  
Dean rubs Cas’ back softly and kisses his temple. “Good idea. Mom’s been bothering me about seeing her granddaughter more anyway.”  
  
“So we should sleep in while we have the chance,” Castiel says, pulling back to stare pleadingly into his husband’s soft green eyes.  
  
Dean snickers, pressing a final kiss to Cas’ forehead before rolling out of bed. “Nope. You gotta pick her up at 10 and get her to soccer. Sam and I are going to a swap meat to get some parts for the shop. Bobby’s been on our ass for days to go.”  
  
Castiel stubbornly buries his face in the pillow. “Which means we can at least sleep until 9:15.”  
  
He feels the bed sink under him and seconds later, Dean’s kissing the back of his neck and whispers in his ear, “No, Cas. I need to shower, and I’d like you to join me.”  
  
Castiel feels a shiver go down his back and he rolls over to stare into Dean’s alluring eyes and he knows he can’t resist it any longer.  
  
He smiles. “I’d love to.”  
  


*****

  
“So what time do you think you’ll be home?” Castiel asks, holding the phone to his ear with his shoulder, hands busy spreading peanut butter across a slice of bread.

“Probably 6:30ish. I have some steaks marinating in the fridge so I can throw those on the grill for dinner when I get home.”

Castiel rolls his eyes. “I’m capable of cooking, Dean.”

Dean starts laughing faintly and Cas knows he’s holding the phone away in some pathetic attempt to hide it. After a few moments, Dean’s voice is back in his ear. “No offense, Cas, but I think it’s best to leave the cooking to me. Your specialty is PB&J’s and there’s no shame in that.”

He frowns down at the half constructed peanut butter and jelly sandwich in front of him, but then a thought occurs to him. “Hey, I can make mac and cheese! You liked it, remember?”

Dean’s silent and Castiel sets down the butter knife and bread to get a better grip on the phone, becoming suspicious. “You did like my mac and cheese, didn’t you?”

“Of course, Cas! It just may have been a little… crunchy-“

Castiel cuts him off with a groan, rubbing a hand down his face. “Seriously? But you told me it was good!”

“I know, I know. But you were so proud of yourself, how could I tell you that? And I didn’t get food poisoning like that one time, so I considered it a success.”

Castiel cringes at the unpleasant memory and sighs. As annoyed as he is that Dean didn’t tell him his mac and cheese sucked, he can’t help the fuzzy feeling in his stomach that he didn’t want to ruin his proud moment. But that’s nothing new with Dean. He’s always thinking of everyone around him and that’s one of the many things Castiel loves about him.

“One day, I’ll make something that’ll be Dean Winchester quality,” Castiel vows.

“I can help you, Cas. I know you like to figure things out on your own first, but I’ll teach you.”

Castiel shakes his head. “No, I’ll get it eventually. That is, if you’ll be patient with me.”

Dean chuckles. “Of course I will, Cas.”

“Is that Daddy?” a small squeak of a voice asks behind Cas and he turns to see Ava staring up at him with wide, hopeful green eyes. So much like Dean’s. No one would ever guess she’s not his own.

Castiel smiles at her. “Sure is.”

She holds up her hands and hops excitedly in place. “Can I please talk to him? Please please please?”

Castiel chuckles and nods to her before speaking back into the phone. “Your princess is summoning you.”

“Is she now?” Castiel can hear the smile in Dean’s voice.

“Yeah so I’m gonna pass you on to her. Call me when you’re on your way home, okay?”

“Okay, see ya tonight. Love you.”

The corner of Cas’ mouth lifts in a goofy smile and he bites his lip out of habit. After all these years, Dean still makes him feel like a school boy with the biggest crush ever. “Love you too.”

He hands his phone to the eager four year old, who takes it and runs away, using both hands to hold it to her ear. “Hi Daddy!” Castiel listens to her fading, excited voice before turning his attention to the sandwich.

He scoffs at it before picking the knife up again and dispersing jelly evenly across across the surface of the second slice of bread. An idea pops in his head and he grins to himself. He’s going to prove to Dean he can cook a good meal, and he’s going to do it tonight.

He presses the two slices together, cuts them into quarters and then pours some apple juice into a Batman themed cup. “Ava, when you’re done talking to Daddy, it’s lunchtime!”

He hears the light thumping of her feet as she runs through the house and he smiles when she bursts through the doorway and hands his phone back to him before climbing in her seat at the kitchen table.

“Thank you, sweetheart,” he tells her as he sets her sandwich and apple juice in front of her.

“Yum!” she exclaims, picking up one of the quarters and taking a bite.

Castiel chuckles under his breath and makes himself a sandwich before sitting across from her. “Ava.”

She meets his gaze, cheeks filled with sandwich and a smear of peanut butter on her chin. “Yes, Papa?”

Castiel takes a bite of his sandwich. “Wanna hear about my surprise for Daddy?”

She nods eagerly, those green eyes widening with excitement. “I love surprises! Tell me, tell me!”

“You gotta promise not to tell him though. Promise?”

Ava nods and reaches across the table as far as she can to offer him her pinky. “I pinky swear!”

Castiel grins and hooks his pinky with hers. “Okay. I’m going to make a surprise dinner for Daddy tonight. Would you like to help me pick out ingredients?”

“Oh, yes! I wanna help! Can Uncle Sam and Auntie Eiween come too?”

Castiel shrugs. “I’m not sure. But I’ll ask them, okay?”

She claps her small hands together and bounces in her seat. “Okay! Can we start now?”

Castiel swallows down his bite and shakes his head. “We can go to the store after you’ve finished eating.”

“Oh, okay!” And she gets to work eating again, an excited little grin on her face as she dances in her chair and Castiel watches her fondly.

Oh yes, he’s going to conquer this kitchen tonight.

*****

  
Castiel pulls several large bowls out of the cabinet and sets them on the island before looking back at the recipe on his phone, eyebrows furrowed. Maybe he should’ve picked a simpler recipe for tonight… But he didn’t think steak with oven roasted potatoes and honey glazed carrots would require so many steps. And he didn’t want to half ass it either, so he bought all the ingredients fresh, which means extra prep time.

“Papa, are these clean now?” Ava asks behind him. He turns around to see her on her step stool, holding a red potato under the stream of the water. He inspects the potatoes and nods.

“They sure are! Why don’t you put them in here so Papa can cut them up.” He grabs one of the bowls and sets it next to her.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t use soap? How do you know they’re clean without soap?” Ava looks doubtfully at the strainer of red potatoes.

Castiel ruffles her light brown hair and walks to another cabinet to pull out a cutting board. “I’m positive. The water is enough to get the dirt off them. You don’t wanna eat soap with your food, do you?”

“Yucky. No way!”

He laughs lightly and trades the potatoes for the carrots. “Would you mind washing these too, please?”

She takes them with a smile and dumps them in the strainer under the flowing water, softly singing some cheery tune that’s gotta be from one of those Disney movies.

Castiel measures out all the wet and dry ingredients in individual measuring cups so that once he’s done cutting, he can feel assured he won’t be missing anything and it’s all their proper amounts. All he has to do is throw them in one bowl and mix. How can he screw that up?

“Okay, done!” Ava announces. Castiel gives her a second bowl to put the carrots in.

“Excellent work, Chef Ava!”

She giggles, placing each carrot carefully in the bowl and then jumps down from her step stool. “What’s next?”

Castiel glances over the recipe one more time. He’s not sure what more there is Ava can do because he’s certainly not putting a knife in her little hands or letting her near the hot oven and grill. His eyes rest on the one ingredient he still needs and he knows she’d love the task.

“I still need some parsley from the garden. You remember how Daddy taught you to pick it?”

“Yep! I can get it for you!” she says, already running through the kitchen and sliding open the glass door that leads to their backyard.

“Not too much, Ava!” he calls after her, hoping she heard him. Dean would kill him if he let Ava pick the whole plant clean.

He sets the oven to preheat, glancing at the clock, which says 5:50. Perfect. By the time Dean gets home, the carrots and potatoes will be done- or close to it- and Castiel can throw the steaks on the grill so they’re hot and fresh.

He walks back over to the island, and dumps the red potatoes in a small pile before picking up a rather intimidating knife. He begins cutting each potato into four little wedges and throwing them in the empty bowl.

He starts slowly but gradually picks up a rhythm and he starts to feel like some sort of professional. Okay, maybe not a professional, but not an amateur either and he’s feeling confident that everything will turn out okay. He’s going to blow Dean’s mind.

He’s smiling to himself when he feels a sharp sting. He yanks his hand back and drops the knife to see that in his confidence, he’s sliced into the side of his thumb.

He backs away from the food as scarlet blood starts to flow from the cut and he sucks in a breath at the pain. He automatically wraps his hand around his thumb to put pressure on the wound and keep blood from dripping all over the floor, but it just seeps in between his fingers.

“Dammit,” he growls, squeezing it tighter and he rushes to the sink to grab some paper towels.

“Papa, I got it!” Ava calls as she runs into the kitchen and reaches up to set the parsley on the counter and Castiel quickly turns his back to her, but it’s too late. She saw. “Papa! You’re bleeding!”

Castiel keeps his back to her and he laughs gently to ease her fear. “It’s okay, Ava. Papa was just a little clumsy with the knife.” He tears some paper towels from the roll and moves to the sink, running his thumb under the water and hissing from the pain.

“Papa!” Ava cries, her voice becoming high with fear.

“Don’t look, Ava. It’s okay. It just looks scary, I know.”

“What the hell is going on?” Dean’s voice, heavy with worry and confusion, asks behind him. Shit, he mustn’t have heard the Impala or the door open through all the commotion. Castiel looks over his shoulder at him, quickly wrapping the paper towel around his thumb and turning off the sink.

“Dean, what are you doing home early?”

“Eileen needed Sam to pick her up- her car broke down. I would’ve called but my phone died,” Dean explains slowly.

“Daddy, Papa’s hurt!” Ava sobs, running to Dean as tears stream down her reddened cheeks. Dean scoops her up and she hides her face in his shoulder.

“Uh oh, what happened?” Dean asks, looking pointedly at Cas as he rubs soothing circles against Ava’s back.

“I-I don’t kn-know,” she hiccups, voice muffled by Dean’s shirt.

“It’ll be okay. I’ll fix Papa up no problem, okay?” Dean disappears into their living room and returns a couple moments later Ava-less and a tear stained shoulder.

Castiel sighs, still clutching his thumb tight. “This was all supposed to be a surprise, not a disaster.”

“What, this?” Dean smirks, gesturing to Cas’ bloody hand clutching at his thumb.

Castiel huffs. “No, I was slicing potatoes and I cut myself. I was going to surprise you by making dinner…” He looks away, feeling his cheeks heat up from embarrassment.

Dean laughs softly. “Oh, Cas…”

“I know. I’m pathetic,” he mutters dejectedly.

Dean grabs his chin softly and forces him to look at him. “Hey, none of that. I appreciate the thought, I really do.”

Castiel frowns. He wanted so badly to succeed, to make Dean proud of him. “I’m sorry, Dean.”

Dean rolls his eyes and presses their lips together in a long, tender kiss and it nearly takes Cas’ breath away. When Dean pulls away, he strokes his thumb down Cas’ cheek and smiles lovingly at him.

“There’s no need for apologies, Cas. Now let’s get you patched up.”

Castiel nods, letting Dean unwrap the bloody paper towel from around his thumb and he whistles. “You got yourself good.” Dean turns on the warm water and Cas allows him to clean his bloody hand and then his thumb, which stings like a son of a bitch. He gets a rag this time and soaks it in the warm water before pressing it around the cut.

“Keep the pressure on it. I’m gonna get the first aid kit,” Dean commands and Castiel nods, watching him go. Damn, how did he get so lucky?

Dean appears not even a minute later with the small white and blue box and sets it on the counter, flipping the top open and digging through it before he pulls out a large bandage and a tube of antibiotic ointment.

“Okay, let’s have a look.” Dean gently takes Cas’ hand in his and removes the rag. Thankfully, the majority of the bleeding has slowed, but it still doesn’t stop the moan that escapes Castiel’s throat when Dean smears some of the ointment on it.

“So, you were going to make dinner for me?” Dean’s amused eyes flicker up at him.

Castiel nods sheepishly. “Yeah… guess you were right. I suck at cooking. I should stick to my peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.”

Dean snorts, wrapping the bandage around Cas’ thumb. “No way, Cas. You’ll get it. It just takes practice. And a few disasters.”

Castiel smiles. “Thank you, Dean. You’re my own personal Dr. Sexy.”

Dean laughs, blushing at the mere mention of his major man crush. “Oh shut up.”  
  
Castiel snickers and laces their fingers together before leaning forward and giving him a long, lingering kiss. He almost lets out a moan when Dean deepens it and he regretfully pulls away. They can get carried away too easily.

“Come on. Let’s go show Ava I’m not gonna die.”

Dean chuckles and nods, keeping their hands linked together as they walk into the living room where a sniffling Ava is curled up on the couch. She looks up at them with wide eyes and sits up. “Papa, are you okay?”

He sits next to her on the couch and she crawls into his lap. “Of course. Daddy is an excellent doctor, you know.”

Ava looks expectantly up at Dean and he nods. “It was quite a battle, but Papa is gonna pull through. He’s strong, just like you.”

Ava nods, looking down at Castiel’s bandaged thumb. “Can I see it?”

Castiel glances uncertainly up at Dean and he shrugs in a ‘why not?’ manner. He gingerly pulls the bandage off just enough so that his cut is exposed, the white gauze stained red but it doesn’t look as bad as it did before when it was gushing everywhere.

“See? It’s not nearly as bad as it looks, sweetheart,” Castiel tells her gently. She bites her lip and wraps her arms around him.

“I’m glad you’re gonna live, Papa. I would’ve been so sad. And Daddy would’ve been so sad.”

He rewraps the bandage and hugs her back, placing a kiss on the top of her head. “I know. But everything is going to be okay now.”

He looks up at Dean and gives him a soft smile when he finds those adoring green eyes trained on him and their daughter. Dean seems to realize he’s staring and claps his hands together to hide the fact. “Okay, who’s ready for round two of dinner?”

Ava hops down from Castiel’s lap before running to the kitchen. “Me! I wanna help!”

They both watch her go and laugh as Castiel gets to his feet. “I think you better take over for tonight. Who knows what disaster I’ll create next.”

Dean rolls his eyes and pulls Castiel closer by the belt loops on his jeans. “Oh no you don’t. You’re gonna help me, got it?”

Castiel opens his mouth to object but Dean silences him with a kiss that Cas can’t help but sigh into, letting his arms wrap loosely around his neck. And when Dean pulls back and rests their foreheads together, Castiel feels a warmth fill his body as he stares lovingly into his husband’s eyes.

“I love you, Dean.”

The corner of Dean’s mouth lifts. “I love you too, Cas.”

Castiel presses another kiss to his soft lips only to feel Dean smirk beneath him and he pulls back to look questioningly at him. “What?”

“You. Distracting me isn’t gonna get you out of cooking. Now let’s get in there before our tornado of a daughter picks my herbs clean.”

Castiel sighs. “Fine.”

Dean grins at him, taking his hand in his. “I’ve got you, Cas.”

Castiel bites his lip but the smile still breaks through. “I know.”

  


**Author's Note:**

> I loved writing this so much because, I mean, domestic!destiel *dreamy sigh* Thank you for reading and I hope you liked it <3  
> [My Tumblr](http://blissfulcastiel.tumblr.com)


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